Ragz to Richez
by Liquid Fire Fairy
Summary: An AU in which Sanosuke is a high school senior dreaming of becoming a rock star. Will his band Virgin Touch ever get off the ground? Yaoi in later chapters
1. Chapter 1

**Notes** : Okay. Well, this is going to be my rock star fic. Hope you all enjoy

**Warnings and Disclaimers**: The song Paradise City belongs to Guns 'n Roses, not to me. Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me, either.

Language, yaoi, not too many warnings for right now aside from blatant Megumi abuse and bastardization. Yay!

**Ragz to Richez**

**Part One**

* * *

The bell rang to signal the end of class and the teacher, Mr. Rivard, had to suppress a laugh as his students hurried to the door. He was not laughing at the students headed for the hallway, he was laughing at the student who, like always, hadn't even heard the bell ring and so was still sitting in his seat.

"Sanosuke? You're allowed to leave, you know," offered the history teacher.

The senior jerked his head up, slamming the notebook shut he had been furiously scribbling in for the last thirty minutes. "Thanks, teach," was his response as he flashed a smile and hurried out the door, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he'd been left alone in the class.

Mr. Rivard just shook his head and laughed.

* * *

Sanosuke Sagara pushed his way through the halls, too focused on the song in his head to pay much attention to anything around him. So he really didn't notice the dirty looks that were being sent in his direction as he ploughed into people and pushed his way through them. Of course, there were others who didn't even bat an eye, being used to the senior's erratic behavior.

"Pretty grass... green girls... pretty green girls?" he mumbled to himself as he walked, earning quite a few odd looks as well. Although, no one was really that surprised by his actions. Sanosuke was known throughout the school as an odd duck, albeit a loveable odd duck, who was too wrapped up in his music to really pay attention to much else. Oddly enough, though he was considered odd, he was one of the most popular students in the entire school, which explained why no one was ever that bothered by his oddities.

Turning towards the hallway where his locker was, Sanosuke was forced to stop walking in order to avoid running into the body blocking his way. Blinking, he looked up from the floor and into the eyes of his closest friend, Katsuhiro Tsukioka. Grinning, the spiky haired brunette slapped his friend on the shoulder.

"Katsu, hey! What're you just standing here for? I have this great idea for a song you've got to hear!" Sanosuke chattered as he led Katsuhiro towards their shared locker. The raven-haired teen just let himself be dragged for the most part, knowing it was pointless to try and get out of Sanosuke's grasp. Every so often he would send an apologetic half-smile over towards someone Sanosuke had done some particular damage too. He said nothing the entire time, knowing better than to try and interrupt Sanosuke.

"So, I was just about falling asleep in Rivard's class, you know how damn boring it is, and then -BAM!- there's this tune in my head! An awesome, totally complete and original tune, and get this, there was even a line! Something about pretty grass and green girls, I think," he explained, a bit of confusion coloring his face.

Katsuhiro couldn't help but laugh. "Do you mean pretty girls and green grass?"

Sano blinked and his eyes lit up. "Kats, yer a fucking genius! I never would have thought of that!" he exclaimed as he unceremoniously dumped his stack of books into his friend's arms. He kept only the notebook he'd been writing in earlier, hastily crossing things off and replacing them with Katsuhiro's suggestions.

Still smirking, Katsuhiro watched in amusement. "Sano, you know you're a dumb fuck, right?"

The brunette dumped the other book into his friend's arms and smiled brightly. "Damn straight!" That said he turned to the locker, hastily opening it (once he remembered the combination). In the midst of taking his books back from Katsu, Sanosuke realized something. "Hey, what the hell are you doing over here? Don't you have your college class now?"

"College is on spring break, Sano, don't have to go this week, remember? Besides, got another love letter for you." Katsuhiro said with a smirk. He pulled the letter out from his pocket and dangled it in front of his friend's face, smirking when Sanosuke took it from him with a scowl.

"Another one? Who the hell is this from?"

"Some pasty little blonde girl. Think she's a freshman."

Sanosuke scowled as he read the letter, crumpling it up and throwing it into the locker when he was finished with it. "Why don't they get that I'm not interested? I mean. come on! I'm a fucking senior and I've never gone out with anyone! Why would I start the last semester of my last year?"

Katsuhiro shrugged and tucked a strand of his long black hair behind his ear. "How the hell should I know? I get the damned things too, even though half the school thinks we're screwing each other."

"Where do they get that idea anyways? It's not like we go around the halls groping each other or anything like that."

"I think the rumor started from the girls. They figure two guys in high school who've never really gone out with any girl have to be gay. And since we just happen to be best friends--"

"They think we're screwing each other."

"Pretty much," said Katsuhiro with a nod.

Sanosuke couldn't help but roll his eyes. Sometimes the stupidity of people was beyond his comprehension. Especially girls. He really didn't understand them.

Making sure he had all the books he'd need for his next class, Sanosuke slammed the locker shut and started down the hall, Katsuhiro keeping in step.

"Katsu, if you don't have class this week what are you gonna do instead?" Sanosuke asked.

The bassist shrugged and took a moment to smile back at a blushing freshman. He might not have liked the love letters, but he had no problem flirting when the opportunity arose. "Dunno. I was thinking of swinging by Glenn's and seeing if he put those finishing touched on that new demo. If he has then I'll take it by that new club; see if I can't get us an audition."

Sanosuke grinned widely. Sometimes it seemed like Katsuhiro didn't really care about what happened to their band, but other times... "I love it when you get into one of these moods. It makes this whole thing a hell of a lot easier."

"And you wonder why people think we're gay," said Katsuhiro with a laugh.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sanosuke was confused. One minute they're talking about an audition at the new club and the next they'd somehow gotten back on the subject of them being gay. He just didn't get it.

Katsu laughed again. "Think about what you just said, Sano. 'You want it as bad as I do?" parroted the long-haired teen. Sanosuke got his friend's meaning and hit him upside the head with a book.

"You need to get your mind out of the gutter! I was talking about making it big with the band and you know it!"

"Maybe you were and maybe you weren't," said Katsuhiro with a shrug of his shoulders. "But to the innocent bystander..."

Before Sanosuke could get in a smart-ass reply the tardy bell rang shrilly throughout the halls and once more Katsuhiro had to stop himself from laughing at the expression on Sanosuke's face. The spiky haired teenager had a look of almost pure panic on his face and, to Katsuhiro at least, it was really quite comical.

"Shit," swore Sanosuke, looking at the clock and then back at Katsuhiro. "Sorry man, but I gotta run. It's King and I already got four tardies in there..."

Katsuhiro rolled his eyes. "Then what the hell are you still standing here for? I'll see you at lunch."

Sanosuke flashed a smile and then took off down the hall at full speed. Still faintly smiling to himself, Katsuhiro slowly made his way towards the parking lot, humming quietly under his breath the entire way.

* * *

Two hours later Sanosuke was on his way to the parking lot when he was grabbed from behind and forced to stop. He turned, then immediately wished he hadn't. For there stood Megumi Takani, a fellow senior, one of the pushiest, most arrogant and bitchiest girls in the entire school. And unfortunately for Sanosuke, she also seemed to have a fascination with making him miserable.

Not even bothering to try and look enthused, Sanosuke got straight to the point. "What the hell do you want?"

Megumi faked a pout and the girls behind her giggled, finding their ringleader very amusing. Sanosuke really just wanted them all to shut their pretty little mouths.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" asked Megumi, still pretending to be hurt by the rejection.

Sanosuke scowled. "Actually, I'm not, you cold-hearted little bitch." He shoved his hands deep within his pockets and smiled his own little fake smile. "In fact, I'm kind of in a hurry. So, if we're done exchanging pleasantries I'll just be on my way." That said he turned to go but was once again stopped by the girl's hand on his arm.

"Not so fast, Sagara. I'm not wasting my time out here just so you can stare at my pretty face." She smiled coyly then, suddenly changing her attitude. "I want an answer to my question. I told you I'd give you one week."

Sanosuke actually had to think back to try and remember what the hell she was talking about. Then it hit him and he cursed inwardly. Now he remember. The had a poem due Monday and Megumi wanted to trade one of his poems, which had started out as song lyrics, for sex. Personally Sanosuke would have rather died than have sex with her.

Megumi was waiting impatiently for a response and Sanosuke decided that in situations like this honesty truly was the best policy.

"You know, Megumi, I was thinking about it..." he said, trying to look serious, "and I decided that I think I would rather chop off my own dick with a plastic spoon." He smiled brightly then, more than pleased with the girl's shocked look. "Sorry, hon."

Megumi's eyes flashed with anger and then hardened and Sanosuke found himself unconsciously taking a step back. That girl was quite scary when looked that angry.

"Sagara, you fucker," she spat. "I'm sure that can be arranged." That said she turned on her heel and stomped away with her group following quickly. Sanosuke watched until they were out of sight and then smiled. Sometimes he just loved pissing people off.

With the encounter over, Sanosuke continued towards the parking lot, looking around for Katsuhiro. He needed to find his band mate if he wanted some lunch because unfortunately his car had died a very painful death and he had no way of replacing it. So, unless he wanted to eat in a cafeteria with a bunch of dumb ass freshman, childish sophomores, cocky juniors and loser seniors, he had to find Katsuhiro.

Finally he spotted the raven-haired teen sitting in the bed of his truck, apparently waiting for Sanosuke. He grinned and jogged over to his friend, yelling his name and waving. Katsuhiro waved back and scooted over slightly to make room for Sanosuke on the tailgate.

"Hey, man," greeted Sanosuke as he plopped down on the tailgate. "How'd it go with Glenn?"

"Pretty good," said Katsu as he handed Sanosuke a McDonald's bag, which Sanosuke quickly tore into. "He had the demo finished so I swung over by the club."

"And?" Sanosuke prodded, stuffing french fries into his mouth, getting the ketchup he'd put on them all over his hands.

Kastuhiro rolled his eyes and gave Sanosuke a couple of napkins. "And I got us an audition for quarter after five tonight."

Sanosuke smiled slapped Katsuhiro on the back. "That's fucking awesome!"

"Actually, that's not the best part."

Sanosuke whipped his head around to stare at his friend. For once, Katsu was smiling a smile that actually reached his eyes. Now Sanosuke was intrigued.

"What do you mean?"

"The owner is a man by the name of Aoshi Shinomori and the gig we're auditioning for is a talent showcase of the area."

Sanosuke looked at his friend in confusion. "So? We've done plenty of those. What's so special about this one?"

Katsuhiro smiled again. "What's so special is that this guy has actual connections. You know who Kenshin Himura is, right?"

"Well no shit. Everyone knows who he is. He's one of the best fucking guitarists ever."

"He co-owns the club with Shinomori. And he's going to be at the show along with some of their old friends, like the singer from Himura's band." Katsuhiro laughed at the stunned expression on the singer's face. "Now do you see why this is so important?"

Sanosuke blinked a few times and then grinned widely. "And you got us an audition for this show?"

"Yep."

"At five thirty tonight?"

"Five fifteen."

Sanosuke tackled his friend to the truck bed, giving him the largest hug he possibly could. "Katsu, yer fucking awesome! I love ya, man!"

Katsuhiro couldn't help but laugh. "I know, Sano. Now could you get your damn hands off me? They're covered in ketchup."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes:** Here it is, part deux of my rock star fic. Not much else to say about this part other than that you get to meet two new guys in this part, one OC and one not. Have fun!

Indicates phone conversation

**Warnings:** Pretty much the same as part one. Rurouni Kenshin and Paradise City do not belong to me. Eventual yaoi, lots of naughty language. The lyrics for the songs Virgin Touch sings were written by a dear friend of mine.

**Ragz to Richez**

**Part Two:**

* * *

The rest of the day could not go by fast enough for Sanosuke. He was unable to focus in his classes, making himself look like even more a moron than usual. All he could think about was the audition Katsuhiro has secured for them. If they ever wanted to make it big they couldn't afford to screw this one up. It was the best chance to get their foot in the door they'd come across yet, and Sanosuke could not stop worrying about it.

It was like an obsession.

As soon as the bell rang signaling the end of classes Sanosuke was on his way to his locker. The sooner he and Katsuhiro got out of the school the sooner they could rehearse for their audition. Their very important audition.

About two minutes after the bell rang Sanosuke's nervousness had reached new levels. Katsuhiro hadn't shown up at their locker yet and Sanosuke could only hope he hadn't gotten into another fight with a teacher. He had a really bad habit of that, especially if the teacher was one that Katsuhiro had no respect for (which of course, happened to be the majority)

"What's with the look, Sano?"

Sanosuke blinked, coming out of his imaginary world populated by arrogant Katsuhiro's and angry teachers. He was shocked, and more than a little relieved, to see the very person he'd been obsessing over standing in front of him.

"Katsu! Where the fuck have you been?" Sanosuke demanded angrily of his friend, not appreciating Katsuhiro's laughter.

"Relax, Sano. You're gonna give yourself a heart attack or something. I had to go turn in a paper to Mr. Galloway, you spaz. Now will you move so I can put my shit in the locker?"

Sanosuke slid out of the way but didn't stop glaring at his friend. "Hurry the hell up, man. We gotta get over to Glenn's so we can practice."

Katsuhiro rolled his eyes as he shoved his stuff into the locker. "The audition isn't for a couple of hours, you nut job. Calm down! Like I've been trying to tell ya, we'll be fine."

Now it was Sanosuke's turn to roll his eyes. "That's easy for you to say, Katsu. Yer just the bassist. I've got to-"

Sanosuke's words died in his throat as he caught sight of Katsuhiro's murderous glare. His friend could be very touchy when it came to the amount of work that was put into playing an instrument-he hated when people assumed that he did less work than others merely because he played the bass.

"Shut up, Sanosuke. I really don't want to hear that bullshit. Got it?"

Sanosuke nodded nervously. "No more bullshit. Got it."

Katsuhiro slammed the locker shut. "Good. Now get your ass out to the truck so we can go get in a little practice." Katsuhiro was trying to be serious, but Sanosuke could see the faint beginnings of a smile.

He decided to make it a little bigger.

Trying not to smile himself, Sanosuke saluted his friend. "Yes, sir!" he called out before running away from any retaliatory action. Katsuhiro watched him go and decided it wouldn't be worth the effort.

* * *

Sanosuke was almost bouncing out of his seat by the time he and Katsuhiro arrived at Glenn's rundown house. The radio in the truck was turned up as loud as Katsuhiro would let it be, and the music, combined with Sanosuke's enthusiasm, had Katsuhiro feeling the pre-audition excitement too. 

"So, what do you think we should do tonight?" Sanosuke asked, unable to keep silent any longer. Katsuhiro looked at the clock and smiled.

"Damn, now I owe Glenn ten bucks," he grumbled, both to himself and to Sanosuke.

His friend turned in his seat and gave Katsuhiro a weird look. "Ten bucks? What the hell are you talking about?"

The driver's smile got even bigger and he looked at Sanosuke out of the corner of his eye as he responded. "Glenn and I made a bet about how long you'd keep quiet on the way over to his place. I said you'd reach five minutes, he didn't think so." Katsuhiro shot another rueful glare at the clock. "He was right, too."

Sanosuke threw an old hamburger wrapper at his friend. "You fuckers. You guys are both jackasses, you know."

Katsuhiro smirked. "Yeah, we knew you'd say that."

Rolling his eyes, Sanosuke turned to look out the window. "I give up."

"Aww, don't pout, Sano. It doesn't make you look too sexy."

"Shut up," growled the musician in question.

Katsuhiro left it at that and the two drove in silence for a few minutes. Katsuhiro was content to let Sanosuke sit and pout, knowing it was better for him to get it all out now rather than to have him freak out just as they were going on stage. The brunette had a history of being slightly temperamental, but Katsuhiro had learned how to deal with it over the long years of their friendship.

Eventually, Sanosuke spoke. "We're only gonna get to do three songs, tonight, right? I was thinking we should do 'Just Livin',' 'Almost Broken,' and 'Passed Out Behind the Wheel.' What do you think? I mean, we've got those songs down pretty damn well and we've been wanting to do 'Almost Broken' in front of an audience for a while."

Katsuhiro nodded his approval. "Those sound good to me," he said as he idly drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for the light to change. "It looks better for us if all the songs we do are our own, makes us look more professional and like we're ready for the big time."

Sanosuke flashed a wide and cocky grin at friend. "It damn well better look like that! We haven't been practicing as much as we have just so we can sound like some sucky garage band. We've got our own sound, which is more than a lot of bands around here can say."

"Mmm-hmm," agreed Katsuhiro, smiling to himself. Sanosuke hated being compared to many of the local bands and his friend had learned the hard way that it was better not to provoke him into a rant.

The conversation died again, the personal silence between them broken only by Sanosuke's soft singing with the radio. They rode in this manner for close to five minutes before Sanosuke broke it.

"Katsu?"

"Yeah?" the driver replied.

"You don't think we'll have any problems making it in, do you?"

The meekness in Sanosuke's voice made Katsuhiro turn towards his friend and what he saw puzzled him. Sanosuke actually looked worried. Sanosuke never looked worried before an audition. He was always cocky and full of arrogance. But for some reason the audition today had him worried.

"We'll be fine, Sano. Why the hell are you so worried?"

Sanosuke shrugged, noticing to himself that they were pulling into Glenn's driveway. "I dunno, guess it's because this is our big chance. If we manage to screw this up we'll pretty much be fucked forever."

The bassist rolled his eyes as he climbed out of the truck and headed towards his friend's house. "Sano, you're a goddamned moron. We haven't fucked up an audition yet, so don't worry about it. We're gonna kick ass."

"Maybe, but--"

Katsuhiro glared daggers at his band mate as they entered the house through the unlocked front door. Glenn never bothered to lock his door no matter how much Sanosuke and Katsuhiro urged him to. The blonde didn't exactly live in a nice neighborhood but he didn't seem to let that bother him. He was comfortable leaving his house unlocked and that was how it was going to stay.

"Sano, shut the hell up. Stop freaking yourself out and calm down. Now lets go get Glenn so we can run through the set a couple of times before we load our shit up and head over to the club." Without waiting for a verbal response Katsuhiro started to walk off through the house, not seeing the quizzical look Sanosuke gave him.

"How the hell are we supposed to find Glenn in this pigsty? Some of his shit piles are bigger than he is."

"Easy, just follow the sounds of the obnoxious singing," called Katsu over his shoulder with a smile. Sanosuke had to smile in return as he followed the longer-haired man towards the kitchen. Glenn liked to sing; he liked to sing a lot, in fact. Unfortunately for him, he was horrible at it. But damn was he loud.

Sanosuke stopped behind Katsuhiro in the doorway to the kitchen and tried not to laugh. No matter how many times he saw the scene in front of him it still cracked him up. The drummer for Virgin Touch was dancing around his kitchen, back to his band mates, singing into a plastic spoon.

Glenn Thorpe was a small, blonde Australian whose parents had moved to the US in 1992 when Glenn was just eight years old. He was generally pretty shy around people and when they met Sanosuke never would have pegged him for the bad-ass he turned into when he got behind a set of drums. Glenn was two years older than his band mates and they had met quite by accident. The three boys had attended the same high school and one day during his freshman year Sanosuke'd had enough, and decided to skip class. He'd been trying to sneak out through the door near the infrequently used music rooms when he'd heard the noise. Curious, he had crept up to the door of the room to see inside and what he saw was Glenn playing some of the best drums he had ever heard. Unable to stop himself, he'd stepped into the room and asked the Australian if he would be interested in being a member of the band Sanosuke was trying to put together. Glenn had quickly accepted and Virgin Touch had been formed.

Still dancing and singing, Glenn turned around and jumped a mile high when he saw Sanosuke and Katsuhiro lounging in the doorway.

Sanosuke burst into laughter at the expression on the blonde's face and Katsuhiro fought to keep his laughter in as well.

"Having fun?" Katsuhiro asked, still trying not to laugh.

Glenn scowled at his friends and put the spoon down on the counter. "You know, you assholes are gonna give me heart attack one of these days," he grumbled, accent still as strong as ever.

Now Katsuhiro couldn't contain his laughter either. "Yeah, yeah. Quit your complaining, pretty boy," he managed to get out between laughs. "If you're done prancing around embarrassing yourself lets get downstairs and rehearse before Sanosuke gives himself a heart attack."

Sanosuke's response was to flip his friend off before following Glenn and Katsuhiro into the basement.

* * *

Aoshi Shinomori sat in the darkened club and fought the urge to yawn. As the manager and co-owner of Shangri-La, he was stuck with the job of auditioning the various bands who were looking for the chance to play at the club's opening. 

Unfortunately for him, they all sucked.

Aoshi had auditioned ten bands so far and had only managed to find two that played decent enough for him to invite them to play at the opening. And even they hadn't been that good. Aoshi had booked them more out of necessity than anything else.

The band that was currently on stage would not be asked to play under any circumstances, even if all of the other bands in the entire nation suddenly broke up and they were the only group left. They were atrocious, and Aoshi was just waiting for them to finish their song so he could ask them to leave.

He'd been waiting for ten minutes so far. Apparently this band liked long songs.

Finally the noise coming from the stage began to die down and Aoshi sensed his opportunity. He stood immediately and was speaking before the last cord had finished fading away.

"Thank you, gentlemen. That was..." he paused for a moment, searching for a word that wouldn't be an outright lie. "That was very unique. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite fit in with what the club is looking for." A stream of curses started pouring forth from the stage but Aoshi plowed ahead, choosing to ignore it. "Thank you for taking time out of your day to audition for me."

"Yeah, fuck you too," spat back the singer as he stormed off stage, band mates following quickly behind.

Aoshi stared at the stage and shook his head. It always amazed him that some people just didn't understand how bad they were.

Head starting to pound, Aoshi sat back down and waited for the next band. He glanced down at the schedule idly, wondering how many more bands were left. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw there were only two left, a band by the name of Virgin Touch and another calling itself Tra-la-la.

He just hoped that at least one of them would be decent.

* * *

Sanosuke stood in the wings of the stage and fought to calm his breath. He wanted the audition to go perfectly and he couldn't stop stressing. Next to him, Katsuhiro was whispering about how they needed to get on stage since it was now quarter after five. There was no more time left for Sanosuke to freak out. So he took a deep breath, counted to ten, and stepped onto stage.

* * *

Aoshi looked up in interest as Virgin Touch stepped on stage. He was immediately impressed by two of the three group members. The drummer and bassist looked to be calm and collected but the singer/guitarist looked like a nervous wreck. Aoshi wanted to immediately stop them before they began but he knew better than to judge on appearances. So he sat back and let them play. 

He was glad he had decided to let them play.

The nervous singer calmed down as the drummer started to begin and he began to concentrate on playing his own notes. Before they were five measures into the song he had completely calmed down and Aoshi could see that he was a performer. Now he just needed to know if the boy could sing as well as his band could play.

He could.

Once again, Aoshi only let them play one song before he stood up and interrupted them.

"Gentlemen, thank you."

The voice cut through Sanosuke's concentration and he looked down at the man on the dance floor with fear in his heart. They'd only played one song and Sanosuke had a feeling that they'd blown it somehow. He searched the face of the man he knew to be Aoshi Shinomori for a clue and found nothing. His icy blue eyes were cold and his face could have been carved from stone for all the expression it showed.

Sanosuke began to swear inwardly.

"That was very entertaining," said Aoshi, his voice as blank as his face. "I'm sorry to cut you off after only one song, but I've heard all I need to hear."

Sanosuke cringed and prepared himself for the bad news.

"You have a sound that is uniquely your own and it's a sound I happen to like. I'd like for you to come and play at the opening next Saturday."

It took a minute for Shinomori's words to register with Sanosuke, but when they did he couldn't stop smiling. It looked like Virgin Touch had finally stumbled onto the lucky break they'd been looking for.

* * *

Aoshi was standing at the side of the club next to the bar, fixing himself something to drink when his phone rang. Picking it up off the counter, he smiled at the number that was displayed. 

"Hello, Kenshin," was his greeting.

Aoshi, hi. Aoshi's smile widened at the sound of his lover's voice, a voice that he hadn't heard in over a week. Kenshin had been in New York on business for almost two weeks and had been far too busy to call his equally busy lover. Not that Aoshi minded: he knew Kenshin would never cheat on him.

"Are you still in New York?"

Actually, no. My plane just got in. As soon as I get my bag I'm going to head home. I just wanted to know how the auditions are going. Did you find anyone good?

"Actually, yes." said Aoshi as he snuck a glance at the ecstatic band on stage who were currently packing up their equipment. "I did find some one. I think you'll like them."

But not nearly as much as I like you, was all Kenshin said before he hung up. Aoshi stared at the phone for a moment before he smiled and allowed himself a quiet laugh. Sometimes his lover could be so immature it was funny. He was looking forward to their reunion later that night.

* * *

**E****nd of part 2**

By the way, I don't know if I've mentioned this, but reviews do make the ficcage go faster. hinthintnudgenudge


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes**: Yay! Part trois of my rock star fic!

By the way, is anyone actually reading this fic? I'm curious, because the stats are telling me that people are, yet I haven't gotten any feedback from anyone. Is there a reason why?

_**Song lyrics**_

**Warnings and Disclaimers:** RK and any GNR music I may use do not belong to me. The lyrics for 'Almost Broken', 'Passed Out Behind the Wheel', and 'Just Livin' ' belong to my dear friend, and are not to be used elsewhere. There is also quite a bit of 'adult language' in this fic, so watch out if you don't particularly care for it.

**Ragz to Richez**

**Part Three**

* * *

Sanosuke was practically dancing as he let himself into his house later that night. For a day that had started out so bad it had certainly turned out wonderful. He still couldn't believe they'd actually gotten the gig, especially after having played only one song. He felt as if Virgin Touch had won the lottery, but even his extremely good mood evaporated when he saw who was waiting for him in the living room, beer can in hand.

His step father, Kamishimoemon.

Sanosuke felt himself scowling. He'd never gotten along with the man, even though he had been kind enough to take in Sanosuke after his real father's death. That had happened when Sanosuke was about ten, and even then they'd not gotten along. Sure, they had put up a good act when Mae, Sanosuke's mother and Kamishimoemon's wife, was around. But they'd still bitch at each other and pick fights when she wasn't looking.

The situation between the two had quickly deteriorated after Mae's death when Sanosuke was twelve. Kamishimoemon resented Sanosuke because he was proof that he hadn't always been the only man in Mae's life, and Sanosuke hated his step-father for not being his real father and for getting his mother pregnant for a third time. She had died not long after the birth of Outa, Sanosuke's half-brother, and in Sanosuke's twelve year old mind she wouldn't have died if it had not been for her second husband.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason Sanosuke disliked his step-father. A major reason behind Sanosuke's feelings was that Kamishimoemon was a drunk, an alcoholic, and Sanosuke hated alcoholics with a passion. His real father, Souzu Sagara, had been killed by a drunk driver with Sanosuke in the car. He'd seen his father die a horrible death and it was a memory that had stayed with him, making him despise everyone who was stupid enough to drink and drive, something Kamishimoemon did often. The two men were always trying to provoke each other and it was a rare occurrence indeed for them to go a week without a confrontation.

From the look of things, this wasn't going to be one of those rare weeks.

"Where the hell have you been?" Kamishimoemon growled out as he stood. Sanosuke didn't even look at him as he replied.

"Katsu, Glenn and I had an audition and then we went out to dinner. Why does it matter to you, anyways?" Sanosuke knew without looking behind him that his step-father's face had begun to turn red, a sight he enjoyed seeing.

"Watch your attitude, you little shit. I needed you to go and pick-up Outa and Uki after school, but I couldn't get a hold of you! They had to bum rides home from some other kids, thanks to your stupidity."

The blatant accusation in Kamishimoemon's tone made Sanosuke angry and he turned around to look at his step-father. "What the hell? Are you really that drunk?! In case you forgot, I can't pick them up! You totaled my car last time you drove it! Or were you so pissed then that you can't even remember it?" Sanosuke shot back, not caring who heard him. He'd had it with his step-father's self-righteous attitude towards him and towards life in general. "And why the hell is it _**my**_ job to make sure your kids get home, anyways? I have my own life to deal with, asshole!"

"Watch your fucking mouth," the other man shot back. "You're lucky I haven't kicked you out yet, you little shit! I didn't have to keep you after your mother died; I could have shipped you off to some orphanage somewhere! But I didn't. I let you stay here and I took care of you! And you this is how you treat me?! What the hell is wrong with your attitude?"

Sanosuke rolled his eyes and pushed his way past the other man. "Just shut the hell up, you drunk."

He was already in his own room with the door locked by the time Kamishimoemon finished screaming at him and returned to his beer.

* * *

The next day in school Sanosuke was noticeably quiet. At first Katsuhiro didn't think anything of it, but by the time lunch rolled around he was beginning to get worried. They were on their way to the nearest fast-food restaurant when Katsuhiro brought up Sanosuke's odd behavior.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Sanosuke turned his head and looked at his friend in confusion.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with me."

Katsuhiro gave Sanosuke a dirty look as he pulled into the drive through. "Bullshit, Sano. You've hardly said a word all day and I haven't heard you say anything to anyone about us getting that gig. Normally the whole school'd be talking about us by now. So don't give me that shit about there not being anything wrong. I've known you far too long to fall for that."

Sanosuke smiled a wary smile. "Yeah, yer right. As usual."

His friend's smile was much wider and much more confident. "Hell yeah I'm right. I'm always right. Now what do you want to eat?" He asked as they pulled up to the speaker-box.

" 'M fine. I don't want anything," said Sanosuke as he looked away from Katsuhiro. Now Katsuhiro really knew something was wrong. Sanosuke was always hungry, even when he said he wasn't. For Sanosuke, saying he wasn't hungry meant he would eat only two hamburgers instead of five, seven slices of pizza instead of sixteen. He was never _not hungry._

"Sano... what the hell is--"

"Hello and welcome to Wendy's. Can I take your order?" The cheerful voice from the speaker-box cut Katsuhiro off in mid-confrontation.

"We need a minute," snapped Katsuhiro back at the box, taking his anger at Sanosuke out against the innocent box. The person on the other side of the box must have gotten the message because there was no response from them.

The angry bassist turned back to his friend who was trying just a little too hard to look innocent. "What the hell happened? You're always hungry."

Sanosuke shrugged. "Maybe I am a little hungry. But you need money to get food." He elaborated when he saw Katsuhiro's puzzled look. "The jackass and I got into another fight last night. He's decided that since I don't think of him as my father, he's not going to do anything fatherly for me, such as provide me with money for food."

"Oh," was all his friend could come up with at first. "That sucks."

"Yeah, I know. I'm seriously thinking about moving out." Sanosuke admitted, as he looked out the window of the truck. "But I don't wanna leave Uki and Outa there all by themselves with him."

Deciding that all the honking horns behind him might not be a good sign, Katsuhiro leaned out the window and told the box he was ready to order. "Sano, it's up to you, buddy. But just remember, I'll be here if you need a place to stay or someone to buy you some food. Now what the hell do you want to eat?"

* * *

The week that passed by was both agonizingly slow and unbelievably fast. For the most part, Sanosuke was in a good mood. But just about every time he saw his step-father they would get into a fight and his spirits would sink. Luckily for him, Katsuhiro was always there to give him a pep talk and to bribe him with food. 

The band was practicing everyday after school for hours on end, and all three were basically living at Glenn's house. It was on the rare occasions Sanosuke went home that he and Kamishimoemon would get into it. The fights would just make Sanosuke even angrier and he would come back to Glenn's furious and ready to work off some of his anger.

It was probably the best thing that could have happened because for once it kept Sanosuke focused on the task at hand.

By the time Saturday rolled around, Virgin Touch knew they were ready. They'd rehearsed their songs until they were sick of them. They were calm, they were prepared, they were confident. And that was wonderful.

But Sanosuke was still worried about something.

"Hey, Katsu?" He asked as they dressed for the show at Glenn's house.

"What?" Called back his friend from where he stood in the bathroom, making sure his hair looked all right in front of the mirror.

"You nervous?"

"Nope."

Sanosuke thought about that for a moment as he pulled on his shirt. "What about you, Glenn?"

"Naw," replied Glenn from the bathroom where he stood next to Katsuhiro, making sure that his hair was perfect, too. "Why? Are you?"

The brunette shook his head and sat down on the couch in order to pull on his boots. "Not at all. Isn't that kinda weird? I mean, I was a basket case when we went to audition. So why wouldn't I be nervous for this?"

"Because you know these songs backwards and forwards, that's why," said Katsuhiro as he walked out of the bathroom to where Sanosuke sat on the couch. 'Sides, we've already done the hardest part of this whole thing. We got in, didn't we?"

Sanosuke couldn't help but smile when he saw Katsuhiro's arrogant grin. "Hell yeah, we did. 'N yer right, that was the hard part! Now if you peacocks would hurry your asses up we could head on over there and show 'em why we got in!"

It was the bassist's turn to laugh. "Hey, don't yell at me. I'm ready to go. Glenn's the one fawning over himself in there." Katsuhiro smirked and looked at Sanosuke; raising his voice just enough so he could be sure that Glenn would hear him. "You know, maybe we should bring your sister over and she and Glenn can compare notes on how they do their hair and make-up."

"Oi! I heard that!" Glenn yelled as he stomped over to where his band mates sat. Sanosuke burst into laughter at the angry expression on Glenn's face.

"Well, duh, dumbshit. You were supposed to."

"Screw you," shot back Glenn. "Now, how do I look?"

Katsuhiro took a moment and looked the drummer up and down. The small, muscular blonde had opted to wear a pair of tight-fitting black jeans with a black tank-top covered with an open red dress shirt.

"Stunning," announced Katsuhiro sardonically. Then he took a good look at Glenn's hair. "But what the hell took you so long in the bathroom? Your hair looks exactly the same."

Glenn's only reply was to shove Katsuhiro backwards.

"All right, I'm ready to go," he told Sanosuke. The brunette nodded and stood up looking over his band-mates as well. He nodded to himself, Glenn looked good. So did Katsuhiro in his jeans and dark blue dress shirt held closed by only a few buttons.

"Awesome. We've got all our equipment loaded up already?"

Katsuhiro nodded his agreement as he reached down and grabbed his leather jacket and keys off of the couch. "Yep. So we ready to go?"

Sanosuke look a minute to look around the room again one more time to make sure they hadn't left anything. Not seeing anything he nodded to himself.

"Let's go kick some ass."

* * *

As he made his way from backstage to the table that was reserved for him and his guests, Aoshi smiled to himself. The first band was scheduled to go on in just about ten minutes and the club was packed. He couldn't have asked for a better crowd at the opening.

He wove his way through the mass of people, stopping to briefly greet those he knew. Slightly turned around in the crowd, he stopped to look around the room, searching for a flash of red-orange. Seeing the color over to his left, he headed that way, coming up behind his lover in a matter of moments.

Aoshi wrapped his arms around the petite Kenshin Himura and the exuberant red-head turned around with a wide smile. "Aoshi! How's it looking backstage? Is everyone ready to go?"

The tall raven-haired man nodded and slid into the chair next to his lover. "Yes. They're all ready. It should be an interesting show."

"It damn well better be, Shinomori," grumbled a man named Chou who sat across the table from Aoshi and Kenshin. "My ass is gonna be on the line if I don't find somebody new to sign pretty damn soon."

Aoshi smiled faintly but it was Kenshin who answered. "Aoshi says there's a really good band that's performing tonight. He was telling me all about them when I got back from New York."

The fourth member of their table laughed at that. "You mean he wasn't fucking you silly?" Kenshin flushed pink as his former band-mate; Hiko Seijirou laughed again and took another drink of his beer. The two had been members of the band Midnight Sunrise, a multi-platinum band. But the band had broken up four years ago due to attitude and personality problems. Most of the band members had gone their separate ways, but Kenshin and Hiko had remained close friends. Kenshin was now the president of his own label and Hiko, well... Hiko still lived the life of a rocker.

Unphased by Hiko's comment, Aoshi took it upon himself to comfort his embarrassed lover. "Really, Hiko. There's no need to be so crude."

"Aoshi is right," interjected Kenshin. He turned his attention back to Chou. "Now, as I was saying. Apparently one of the bands is very good. Aoshi was telling me he thinks they could go pretty far with a little tuning." He turned to his lover once more. "What did you say their name was?"

"Virgin Touch. There's just three of them, but they have a good sound. I think you'll like them." A thought occurred to Aoshi and he looked down at his watch. In fact, they should be coming on any minute." As if his words were magic, the assistant manger of the club walked onto stage and welcomed the crowd.

She waited for the applause to die down before she continued. "Okay, guys and girls. You've all been real patient tonight and I know you want to get to the music. So, no more speeches. Here's Virgin Touch!"

* * *

Sanosuke fidgeted as he watched the assistant manager on stage. In a matter of moments it would be them out there in front of all those people. Somehow, for some reason, he was starting to get a little nervous.

In fact, he was starting to get very nervous.

Looking over, Katsuhiro saw the look of panic of his friend's face and he rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Sano. Remember what we said earlier?"

"Yeah, c'mon," put in Glenn. "As long as you remember that we're doing 'Passed Out Behind the Wheel' first, you'll be fine."

Sanosuke nodded uncertainly, but before he could respond Katsuhiro pushed him out on stage and it was time for them to play.

* * *

Back at the table where he sat, Aoshi nodded when Virgin Touch came on stage. They had chosen good outfits for the show, outfits that showcased their good looks and would definitely catch the attention of the female audience members.

Next to him, Hiko whistled in appreciation. "Damn, they certainly look good. Do they sound good, too?"

Aoshi allowed himself a small smile. "Quite."

On stage, the drums began and at the table Kenshin's fingers began to tap in time with the beat. The entire table watched with rapt attention as the guitarist sauntered over to the mic and began to sing.

_**A little more booze,  
I can still hear the whispers  
Hissing in my ears,  
Not to mention the mister eyeing me,  
But I've got nothing left  
Just a sliver of life  
A shower of sleft**_

Chou raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Sleft? What the hell is sleft?"

Kenshin shrugged and smiled faintly. "Who knows? Just consider it artistic license." He frowned over at Hiko when he laughed, but neither one of them said anything as their attention was drawn back to the charismatic trio on stage.

_**Longing for the fire  
That I lost so long ago  
Gonna take me  
Higher,  
How high can we go?**_

"He's got a good voice," noted Hiko, taking yet another drink of his beer. "But I still sound better."

Now it was Kenshin's turn to laugh. "Of course, whatever you say."

_**Drinking the same wine,  
A bit of kiss and tell  
Will ya pass out  
Behind the wheel  
With me?**_

Kenshin clapped with the rest of the audience as the final notes of the song faded away. "They sound good, Aoshi. What about their other songs? Are they as good as this one?"

His lover shrugged and took a sip of his own drink. "To tell you the truth, I don't know. I didn't make them play anything other than this song at the audition."

Chou stared at Aoshi in disbelief. "What the fuck? Are you serious?"

"Very."

"What the hell were you thinking?" Chou demanded hotly, having to yell to be heard over the audience and the singer's voice as he worked the crowd. "What if they only have one good song?"

Once more Aoshi shrugged. "It's too late to do anything about it. I suppose we should just stop talking and listen to them. Who knows, this 'Almost Broken' that they're playing next might be just as good as their last song."

Hiko snorted into his drink and muttered "Unlikely." But he said nothing further and listened to the new song.

_**Call out my name  
While I'm lost in  
Dreams  
Awaken to a  
Nightmare  
Your kiss nowhere  
To be  
Seen.**_

"Well, looks like they don't have a problem with ballads either," Kenshin said with a smile. "Looks like you picked a good band to go first, Aoshi."

Aoshi gave a small smile back. "Apparently."

"You just got lucky," grumbled Hiko

"I don't care if he got lucky. If their last song is as good as their first two I'm heading backstage right after their set to talk to them."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow at Chou's comment. "Aren't we being a little over eager?"

The blonde crossed his arms across his chest and glared at Kenshin. "With you around, no."

_**Baby, is this as  
Hard for you as  
It is for me?  
One more strand  
And I'll break.**_

_**A lullaby that  
My mom sang  
A lost memory  
That I flung away**_

"They play pretty good," Kenshin noted as he watched the singer serenade the crowd. "But their guitar is a little weak."

Aoshi nodded his agreement. "From what I picked up, the singer hasn't been playing that long."

"Who the hell cares?" Asked Chou. "They sound good as it is. 'Sides," he said as smirk spread across his face, "I know the perfect guitarist for these guys."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow. "Really? And who would that be?"

"No, no, no," chided the blonde with a shake of his head. "If I told you, then it wouldn't be a shock."

_**So close to the  
End**_

_**Almost there...**_

_**Almost...**_

The crowd barely even had time to cheer after the final note faded away before Virgin Touch launched into their next, and final, song.

_**Breathing in, breathing out  
It's the same every damn day  
Chasing tails and dreams  
Only in it for the lay  
You catch me off guard  
You go in for the kill  
But what you don't realize is...**_

_**I'm just livin' the dream  
Drinkin' the sorrow  
Livin' life like there  
Ain't no tomorrow  
Cutting it closer and  
Closer each time  
We don't have time to die**_

Aoshi smiled when he noticed how much the crowd loved the band and his smile widened when he saw Chou stand and hurriedly push his way towards backstage.

"Think he'll sign them, tonight?"

Hiko laughed. "Hell, yeah. He's acting like a loser about to lose his virginity with a hot chick. No way he can restrain himself."

"Wonderful analogy," replied Kenshin with a laugh of his own. "I'll have to remember that one." He quickly snagged Aoshi's drink and took a sip of his own. "Who do you think the guitarist is Chou was talking about?"

Aoshi shrugged. "Who knows. Chou probably thinks he has someone but they're probably either dead or already signed with another band."

"True, true."

_**Sea breeze coming and going  
So many boats I've lost count  
Rolling in the sand, going down  
On salt-water skins, that's  
What my summer's about**_

_**I'm just livin' the dream  
Drinkin' the sorrow  
Livin' life like there  
Ain't no tomorrow  
Cutting it closer and  
Closer each time  
We don't have time to die**_

* * *

  
Sanosuke could barely contain himself as he went off stage.

"That was fucking awesome!" He exclaimed, hitting Glenn on the shoulder.

"Hell, yeah it was," agreed the little Australian. "That was the best show we've done in a while!"

"You were good out there," cut in a new voice from their left. The three band members turned around with a start. There, standing against the wall, was a tall, blonde man. He looked vaguely familiar to Sanosuke, but he couldn't place him.

"Who are you?"

The man scowled at the question but he stepped off the wall and came to where the band members stood.

"My name is Chou Sawagejou and I--"

A light went off in Sanosuke's mind. He knew that name.

"You're with Dark Records, aren't you? What do you want with us?" He blurted out, hoping beyond hope that this meant what he thought it meant.

"I was out there listening to you guys and you sound pretty good." Chou's eyes flashed over to Sanosuke. "And I was thinking about signing you guys."

Sanosuke felt his breath catch in his throat and he knew from the expressions on Katsuhiro and Glenn's faces that they felt the same.

"But," continued Chou, ignoring the looks on their faces, "before we talk about signing you I want you to understand something. If I sign you, I'm gonna bring in a new guitar player or two." He looked over at Sanosuke again. "No offense, kid, but yer not too hot on that thing."

Sanosuke flushed but shrugged it off. "None taken. I just play because the guy we did have on guitar got his girlfriend knocked up and quit the band so he could get a job."

Chou nodded to himself. "I see. But would you have a problem if I brought in another guy?"

Sanosuke shook his head, as did Glenn, but Katsuhiro had a question. "Depends. Who'd choose him, you or us?"

"Me," said Chou with a smirk. "But trust me, I don't think you'll have a problem with the guy I have in mind." He looked around at the three. "Well, what do you say? Do you guys want to sign with Dark Records?"

Sanosuke laughed. "What the hell do you think?"

* * *

Fini!

Wow, this is a long part... but just wait, they're going to get even longer. Especially since the fun is really just getting started.


	4. Chapter 4

Notes: Umm . . . I just decided while I was writing this that Sozou and Sano's mom were divorced when Sozou died. Ignore anything I said contrary to that in earlier parts. It has to be like that for the timeline I want to work.

Thanks to all the lovely people who answered my cries of desperation and reviewed. It made my week, to be honest. And sorry this chapter took so long, I didn't want to post it until I was done with the next one, but I've hit a snag about twenty pages in, so I decided to just post this. Hope you enjoy!

Once gain, any mistakes you find in this are mine- I have no beta, so what you get is the result of me rereading what I write a while after I write it. If you see any blatant errors, let me know and I'll try to get them fixed.

Warnings: Swearing, eventual Yaoi, AU (if you couldn't tell)

Disclaimers: See First part

Ragz to Richez 

Part Four

----------------------------------------------

Ragz to richez or so they say  
Ya gotta keep pushing for the fortune and fame  
It's all a gamble  
When it's just a game  
Ya treat it like a capital crime  
Everybody's doing their time

----------------------------------------------

Sanosuke walked into his first class Monday morning, brain racing, trying to convince himself that Saturday had not been a dream. They had actually been signed. Virgin Touch had actually signed a contract with Dark Records and had a manager. It really had all happened, and Sanosuke knew it. But it still didn't seem real.

The brunette sat down in his seat in the back of the class and noticed something rather strange. The entire class was staring at him. The girl in front of him, who had never even looked his way all year, had actually turned around in her seat, and was intent on watching him.

Self-conscious now, Sanosuke ran a hand through his hair, wondering if he'd forgotten to brush it, not that it really would have made that much of a difference.

"Uh, what's going on?" Sanosuke asked the girl in front of him, hoping to get an answer.

The girl, a fellow senior by the name of Kyla, blushed red and looked around, almost as if she didn't think Sanosuke was talking to her. Now Sanosuke was very confused. Kyla had never given him the time of day and now she was blushing because he'd asked her a question. Something very odd was going on.

When no one else answered, Kyla looked at him. "Me?"

Sanosuke nodded slowly, wondering if her brain had perhaps melted. "Yeah, you. Why the hell is everyone staring at me?"

Kyla looked ashamed for a moment, but did answer Sanosuke's question. "There's a rumor going around school that your band got signed. Is that true? Did you and Tsukioka really get signed?"

He knew he had a look of surprise on his face, but Sanosuke couldn't help it. He, Katsuhiro and Glenn hadn't told anyone yet about them getting signed yet aside from their family. And Sanosuke knew his family didn't really give a shit about what he did and if he made it big or not. So who had started the rumor?

"Where the hell did you hear that from?"

"Does it matter?" Kyla asked sharply, her somewhat bitchy personality starting to come back through. "Is it true?"

Sanosuke glared at her, suddenly remembering why he didn't really mind that she didn't talk to him. "Yeah, we got signed. But we didn't tell anyone. So who the hell is spreading the rumor?" He demanded.

Kyla didn't answer, she just squealed in delight. "Oh my God! That's so cool! Who signed you guys?" She asked, excitement coming back to the front.

Still glaring, Sanosuke tried to think of a way to get this girl to answer his questions. She was a little too enthusiastic for his liking and all he wanted was to get some answers.

"If you tell me who started the rumors, I'll tell you who we signed with," he finally answered, hoping she would finally answer his question. Luckily, she was extremely curious and immediately supplied all the information she had.

"I don't know his name; he's some sophomore whose older brother was playing at that opening on Saturday. From what I heard, his brother came home bitching about how some band got signed instead of him. Apparently the sophomore recognized your band's name and put two and two together." Kyla leaned forward, eager to get her reward. "So, who signed you?"

Sanosuke signed and ran his hand through his hair again. "Dark Records."

The girl's eyes widened and she opened her mouth, wanting to find out more. Unfortunately for her, the bell rang signaling the beginning of class and she was forced to turn around in her seat.

Silently, Sanosuke thanked the bell's perfect timing and wished he had some aspirin for his pounding headache.

---------------------------------------------------

The rest of the day was no better for either Sanosuke or Katsuhiro. Everywhere they went they were followed by stares and whispers. Apparently the rumor had spread throughout the entire school and whether people believed it or not didn't seem to matter. It seemed like everyone wanted to get a peak at the up-and-coming musicians.

For Katsuhiro the strangest moment came when he walked into his advanced chemistry class. His teacher, a man by the name of Mr. Palmer, was one of the most intelligent people most of his students had ever met. Yet at the same time he was also almost completely ignorant of pop culture. He'd freely admitted many times that the only television show he watched was Jeopardy and he'd never even heard of the infamous band Faces of Evil.

So, when Katsuhiro walked into Mr. Palmer's class, he was hoping to have a normal class period without any mention of Dark Records or Virgin Touch. He thought they'd just continue working on more organic chemistry and for once he was actually looking forward to puzzling out the ridiculously long formulas.

What he was not expecting was for his teacher, his normal, down to earth, somewhat socially retarded teacher, to stop class and ask him for an autograph. Katsuhiro was dumbstruck, but he really had no choice but to do as he was asked. After all, how could he refuse the man who held his grade within his hands? He couldn't; the same way he couldn't then turn down the begging of his classmates.

The only thing the poor bassist could think as he signed his name over and over again was that he hoped it wouldn't be like this everywhere he went from now on.

-------------------------------------------

When Sanosuke finally got home that day his head was pounding and his ears ringing. All day he'd been stared at, whispered about, and yelled at. It was driving him nuts and he just wanted to come home and relax.

He knew that dream was shot as soon as he walked into the living room and saw his step-father sitting on the couch, staring at the television, another beer in his hand.

"Where do you think yer going?" Kamishimoemon growled out as Sanosuke stepped in front of the television.

His son sighed and continued on his way into the kitchen. "I'm getting myself some aspirin. My head's killing me."

Kamishimoemon nodded and took another drink of his beer. He wasn't going to say anything to Sanosuke about a headache; he'd dealt with plenty of pretty bad ones in his life.

Slightly suspicious of the fact that his father wasn't yelling at him, Sanosuke opened the cabinet where they kept the medicine and began rifling around, looking for _something_ to dull the pain in his head. After five minutes of pillaging, Sanosuke had found enough cold medicine to open his own pharmacy, but no pain killers. Desperate to stop the ringing in his head, Sanosuke turned back to cabinet, searching for some pill he had overlooked.

The only thing he found was his little sister's Midol.

Now, under normal circumstances, Sanosuke would never even think about taking PMS medication. But these were not normal circumstances. His head felt like it was going to split in two and he was pretty sure there was some sort of little imp in his brain pounding against the walls of his skull. In short, he was just desperate enough to take the medicine.

Grabbing two of the pills and a glass from the next cabinet over, Sanosuke headed over to the sink and began to fill up his glass.

"Hey, next time ya go to the store ya need to pick up some pain killers," he told his father, hoping his father would remain quiet. Unfortunately, his luck had run out.

"Get it your damn self," snapped Kamishimoemon as he took a swig of his beer again. "You don't pick up Uki and Outa from school, I don't do yer shopping."

Sanosuke tried to count to ten but only got to three before he exploded at his father.

"Did you not fucking listen to me the other night? I don't have a fucking car and you won't let me anywhere near the keys for yours! You trashed my car, remember? The only reason I can get to school and back is because of Katsu. And I'm not gonna ask him to pick up my kid siblings because you're too much of a lazy ass to bother with 'em yerself!" Sanosuke yelled at his step-father as he slammed down the glass, almost breaking it.

Kamishimoemon opened his mouth to shout back, but his angry step-son cut him off before he could even begin.

"Don't even fucking start yelling at me," the teenager warned his voice full of undisguised hatred. "I'm out of here as soon as I can get the money. So if I just don't come home one day, don't worry about it."

His step-father watched Sanosuke stalk off with a little bit of a smile on his face. He heard the boy's bedroom door slam shut and he briefly wondered if he should tell his step-son about the note that had been on his door-the one telling him he had a meeting on Wednesday with a man named Chou. He smiled to himself and took another long drink of his beer. He'd let Sanosuke go uninformed. After all, why did he have to take responsibility for an 18 year old who wasn't his?

------------------------------------------

Chou waited anxiously in the car, not feeling very comfortable at all where he was parked. It wasn't that he was afraid, it wasn't that at all. It was more the fact that he knew on the other side of the fence were hundreds of convicted murders, rapists, con-men and thieves, all itching to escape their confinement.

What made him even more nervous was that he was waiting for one of those very men.

Getting impatient now, Chou glanced at the clock for what felt like the fiftieth time. Barely a minute had passed.

Feeling like an idiot, he sat in the car for five more minutes, tapping his fingers against the wheel in an angry tattoo. Just as he was about to look down at the clock again, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

Holding his breath, Chou watched the man as he exited the prison. His hair was a little longer, his face a little thinner, but it was definitely the man he was waiting for.

Some part of him couldn't help but smile.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

At three forty-five on Wednesday afternoon, Sanosuke sat in his room, playing on his guitar. The spiky-haired teenager was in a melancholy mood, as the anniversary of his father's death was fast approaching. In less than a week it would be the ten year anniversary of his father's death and Sanosuke was having a hard time accepting it. And it wasn't because he wanted his father to see him make it in the music business, although that would have been nice. It was because he was beginning to forget things about his father, not that he would admit it to anyone. He still remembered his father's voice, for example, but some of the other things were starting to fade. Like he couldn't remember quite what color his eyes had been or how tall he was. And, as much as it pained Sanosuke to admit this even to himself, his father's face was beginning to get a little fuzzy. And it had only been ten years. Sanosuke was afraid of how much he'd forget by the time twenty or even fifteen years rolled around.

A knock at the door distracted him from his depressing thoughts, and he stopped playing as he called out "Come in. "

He was more than a little surprised when his younger sister stuck her head through the door. He didn't have any problems with Uki, but they didn't really talk that often. And it was even rarer for her to venture into his room.

The fifteen year old looked even more surprised to see him. "Sano, what are you doing here? Did your meeting get canceled?"

Sanosuke blinked and set down his guitar, getting the feeling that he was going to get even angrier with Kamishimoemon. "What meeting are you talking about?"

"The meeting for your band. Some guy named Chou called Monday after you left for school. He said that your band had a meeting with him and some guitarists today." Her brown eyes looked at her brother in confusion. "Didn't you get my note?"

Her brother shook his head, hand clenched into a fist at his side, trying not to lose his temper. "No, I didn't. Where exactly did you put this note, Uki?"

"Right here," she said as she tapped the door. "I taped it to your door, because I figured you'd see it for sure that way. You mean you seriously didn't get it?"

"Do you really think I'd be here right now if I had?" Sanosuke snapped back, flinching inwardly when he saw his sister visibly cringe. He sighed and stood, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, Uki. I'm just a little pissed off right now. I have a feeling your dad took the note. He hasn't been too happy with me lately and I can see him doing something like this just to fuck with my chances."

Uki nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it does seem like something stupidly childish. I can see him doing it." Sanosuke had to suppress a smile. He loved how Uki could be so much like him at times.

With a sigh, Sanosuke glanced over at his clock. "What exactly did Chou say when he called?"

Uki titled her head to the side and leaned against the doorframe. "Let me think for a minute. He said. . ." She paused; trying to remember. "Actually, Sano, I don't remember exactly what he said. Sorry. But if you hang on a minute, I was doing my homework when he called and I jotted it down there before I wrote your note. I'll go and get it, kay?"

She didn't wait for her brother's response before she hurried off.

Sanosuke watched her go with a small smile, then looked over at the clock. He just hoped he had time to make an appearance at the meeting. He really didn't want to start things off on the wrong foot.

-------------------------------------------------------

"Is he always late like this?" Chou Sawagejou snapped as he looked at his watch. It was going on four-thirty and there was still no sign of the Virgin Touch's singer. He was starting to get a little angry.

Katsuhiro answered for Sanosuke since he wasn't there to speak for himself. "When it comes to the band, never. In other aspects of his life, all the time." The brunette stretched his arms before continuing. "He and his step-dad aren't really getting along right now, though. My money is on him having a problem with Kamishimoemon."

The blonde blinked. "What was that name?"

On the other side of the room Glenn started to snicker, but he stopped when Chou shot a look over his way.

"Kamishimoemon," said Katsuhiro slowly. "Why? Need it spelled out or something?"

Chou bristled at the bassist's tone. "No, I don't." He looked at his watch once more. "Even though your singer isn't here, we need to get on with the meeting. Is that all right with all of you?" He asked, looking between the three men in the room. They all nodded, wanting to get down to business.

The blonde man smiled back. "Good. Now, if you remember, on Saturday night I said if you wanted a contract with my company, you were going to have to accept that you needed a new guitarist, because frankly, your singer sucks at it." On the other side of the room, Glenn snickered his agreement and got an angry glare in return from Katsuhiro.

"What?" Asked the Aussie. "It's true, he does suck."

Katsuhiro didn't say anything; he just turned back to Chou. "Yes, we remember, why? Is that what this whole meeting is about? The new guitarist?"

"Yes and no. I was thinking about it, and I decided you guys need a back-up guitarist as well, to give your songs a little more depth. So I went searching and I came across a guy I think would fit your band perfectly." He gestured towards the blonde man sitting to his left. "Virgin Touch, I'd like you to meet Leland Dirnt, your new second guitarist."

The Nordic looking man smiled and brushed some loose blonde hair from in front of his face. "Nice to meet you guys. I'm looking forward to working with you," he said with a smile.

Katsuhiro blinked and half-heartedly returned the smile. "Yeah, same back at ya." He looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment and glanced briefly over at Chou. "Look, don't this the wrong way or anything. I mean, I'm sure you're a great guitarist, but shouldn't be have a choice in who our new band mates are? It is our band, after all."

Personally, Leland agreed with the bassist. But apparently, Chou did not as he shook his head, scowling at the question.

"When you signed with me, I told you I would have control over who joined your band as the guitarist. You signed with me knowing this was how it was going to go, so don't start arguing with me over it now."

On the other side of the room, Glenn coughed into his hand discretely. The two Asians broke off their unofficial starting contest and turned to look at him.

"What?" Snapped Chou.

The blonde smiled his sweetest, most innocent smile. "Actually, if I remember right, in the contract it said that you had the right to choose _a_ guitarist. So technically, that means we should be able to listen to and approve one."

If looks could kill, Glenn would have died instantly.

While Chou was glaring, Katsuhiro burst out laughing. "Glenn, I think that's the first time your night classes have ever come in useful," he gasped out between laughs.

"What classes?" Asked Leland, curious.

"Pre-law."

Leland had to hide his smile because he had a feeling Chou would kill someone if he saw it. The blonde already looked as though he would strangle the next person to speak. In fact, when the blonde himself spoke it came out almost as a hiss.

"Fine, then," he snapped shortly. "You can approve of ONE of them. Who is it going to be? Leland or the lead guitarist?" When he didn't get an answer right away, Chou grew redder. "Well? We really don't have all day, you know."

Figuring it probably wasn't really a good idea to anger their manager any more for the time being, Katsuhiro stole a glance over at Glenn. Did they want to use this opportunity on the blonde Leland, knowing that if they did, they would have no say when it came to their lead guitarist?

"I say we listen to him," spoke up Glenn, gesturing to the blonde Leland. "Hey, don't look at me like that, I have a reason for it, you know."

Katsuhiro crossed his arms over his chest. "Explain."

The drummer sighed, knowing far too well the expression on Katsuhiro's face. It was his 'you-being-stupid-and-we-both-know-it' face that he normally reserved for Sanosuke. This meant he was already convinced that he was right and that it would take a hell of a lot of effort on his part for him to change Katsuhiro's mind.

"First of all, stop looking at me like that- I'm not Sanosuke."

The bassist smiled faintly at that and reluctantly uncrossed his arms. Glenn took that to be a good sign.

"Thank you. Now that you're not looking at me like an idiot, maybe I can explain myself." When Katsuhiro didn't interrupt, he went ahead. "Look, if we listen to this guy here, we'll get a feel for how Chou sees us and our music. We know he's going to be the back-up, which means that the lead will more than likely be even better. And if we like him, it probably means we'll like the lead, too."

Katsuhiro nodded, seeing the logic behind it all. But there was still far too much uncertainty in it for him and he told the Aussie as much. "But what happens if we listen to Leland over there and like him, but absolutely hate the lead, which we'll have no control over. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have my back-up guitarist suck than my lead."

The two band mates started at each other for close to a minute before Chou got bored and interrupted them loudly.

"Enough with the bickering," he snapped, looking down at his watch. "We've already wasted enough time as it is. You have until the count of five to make your decision."

Neither said anything, they just continued to stare. Chou started to count.

"One."

The staring contest continued.

"Two."

Leland heard the sounds of the secretary speaking in the next room and she didn't sound too happy.

"Three."

Chou too, turned his head to look at the door, hearing the noise coming from the smaller waiting room.

"Four-"

He didn't quite finish the word as the door opened, revealing and slightly flushed, definitely late, Sanosuke Sagara. Behind him stood Chou's secretary, arms placed unhappily at her hips.

"I'm sorry about this, sir. I told him he couldn't come in, that you were in the middle of a meeting, but he pushed his way past me."

Chou waved her off, both relieved and annoyed to see the singer. "Don't worry about it, Kamatari. He's supposed to be here."

The woman glanced at the clock on her desk and then back at her boss. "But I though the meeting started at four. . ."

Once more Chou waved off her concerns. "It did. He's just late," he explained, glaring at the culprit. Sanosuke didn't seem to mind a bit, he just grinned back happily. Still not totally convinced, Kamatari closed the door and went back to her desk, leaving the musicians alone with the blonde.

It was Katsuhiro who spoke first. "Where the hell were you?" He asked, sounding more amused than annoyed.

For a moment a look of anger crossed Sanosuke's face, but it was gone in a flash. "I didn't know about the meeting until ten to four."

"I called your house myself," Chou practically growled out. He didn't like liars or people who were constantly late. Sometimes he wondered why he even did what he did.

Sanosuke glared right back at the blonde. "Yeah, I know you did. And my little sister put the note on my door. Unfortunately my alcoholic step dad and I aren't getting along too well at the moment and he took the note off of my door before I could see it."

"Oh," was all Chou could think of to say, choosing to ignore the 'I-told-you-so' look he was getting from Katsu. "But what the hell took you so long to get here? It's almost quarter to five."

The singer sighed and flopped down into the vacant chair next to Katsuhiro's. "I had to take the bus because Kamishimoemon trashed my car a couple of months back and I haven't had the money to get a new one."

Still not knowing what to say, Chou decided to change the subject, bringing Sanosuke up to date on the decision he and his band mates had before them.

The singer nodded, understanding what was going on and what was needed. "Okay, I get it." He looked around the room, frowning as he noticed something that didn't seem to sit right with him. "Where is the guitarist, anyways? Shouldn't he be here?"

For a moment, Chou looked startled, but it was only for a moment. "He just got back into town after a long vacation so he's got some stuff he needs to take care of."

Once more the brunette nodded and looked around the room. "And how soon can we get started?"

"As soon as we take care of this stuff here. I've got a studio double ready to step in as your guitarist so you can start rehearsals. I just need you guys to make a decision." He looked at his watch impatiently, not having to feign his impatience. He was really starting to get sick of the 'Let's-Question-Chou' game.

So he was more than happy when Sanosuke nodded his consent and turned to Leland. "Show us what you got. Then let's get started."

Katsuhiro made a strange noise at his friend's words and took a step closer to him, obviously intending to try and change his mind. That was something Chou would not allow in under any circumstances and he himself was getting ready to defend the singer's decision when Sanosuke himself did exactly that.

"Katsu, don't even think about it," he warned, knowing exactly what his longtime friend was thinking.

"But, Sano, do you realize what you just did?! You gave him complete control over the decision of who is going to be our lead guitarist! The guy could end up playing worse than you, and there won't be anything we can do about it!"

If the thought bothered the singer, he didn't show it.

"Yeah, I know, Katsu. But you know something? I don't really care. I just want to get this damn thing started and I don't want to waste a bunch of fucking time trying to figure all this shit out. Chou's our manager, and if we sink he's going down with us. So unless he's looking to pull a kamikaze with his career, I don't think we have much to worry about."

Even Chou could see that the bassist wasn't finished yet, so he decided to step in.

"All right, now that you idiots have finally made a decision, we can get down to business." He turned to Leland, who was still sitting in his chair, an idiotic smile in place. "Leland, you have your guitar in the studio, right?"

The blonde nodded, smile still in place. "Umm-hmm. Want me to go and get it?"

Chou shook his head, and then turned back to the members or Virgin Touch. "Here's what's gonna happen. You're going to follow me to the studio, where Leland over there is going to play for you. Once you figure out that yes, he is good and welcome him into the band, the four of you will start rehearsing. You'll have rehearsals everyday for the next month or so, and then we'll start getting your name out and start setting up shows. You'll also have various meetings thrown in during that time with publicists, stylists and people like that to help polish your image."

They all blinked, pleasantly surprised by this business like side of Chou.

"Sounds good," said Glenn, with a nod of his head, even though he was wondering if he should be offended by the 'polish your image' comment. "But when is this other guitarist gonna show up? We are going to have rehearsal time with him, right?"

"Of course you will," Chou reassured the Aussie. "He should be at rehearsals next week or the week after. Like I said, he's been . . .out of town for a while and he needs to take care of some things. Now let's get going, we've already wasted enough time."

----------------------------------

Katsuhiro hated to admit it, Leland was good. Very good. They'd just spent close to three hours rehearsing and he couldn't have been happier with how the guitarist's sound blended in with the band. He just couldn't tell Chou that. After all, he couldn't give the man the satisfaction of being right, now could he?

"Oh, man, I'm starving," whined Sanosuke from behind the bassist.

"I think we all are," added in Leland, also from behind. "What do you guys say we go get something to eat?" He paused for a moment, suddenly wondering if he'd overstepped the boundaries. After all, he had just joined the band a few hours earlier. It might be a bit too soon to be suggesting group activities.

As a matter of fact, there was no reason for him to worry.

"I'm willing," said Glenn.

Katsuhiro stopped walking and turned around to face the others. "Me too." He looked over at Sanosuke, waiting to see if he was going to join them or not. "Sano?"

The brunette didn't quite meet his eyes across the parking lot. "Yeah, I'd like to go. Only problem is . .. I kinda don't have a ride. Or money."

His best friend had to physically stop himself from rolling his eyes. "And since when exactly, has that been a problem? You know I'll give you a ride and pay for your dinner."

Sanosuke looked up, smiling. "You sure?"

This time Katsuhiro really couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Don't I always, Sano?" That being said he turned to Leland and Glenn. "So, Leland, where do you want to go?"

The blonde smiled widely. "Actually, could you call me Nick, please?"

The others blinked, not quite sure where this was coming from.

"Nick? What the hell is that?" Asked Sanosuke bluntly.

The blonde smiled once more. "Actually, it's my nickname. So, if you could please use it, I'd be grateful."

Once more the three blinked and shared glances, a little confused. "Yeah, sure. No problem," said Katsuhiro finally as his stomach growled again. "So, Nick, where do you want to eat?"

---------------------

In his office, Chou finished his call and hung up the phone before grabbing his cell phone and dialing a number that had become quite familiar in the past few days. On the second ring, a voice he knew almost too well picked up.

Hello?

"Hey, it's me, Chou.'

The man on the other end of the line sighed. What do you want?

"I know I told you that you could have a couple of days off before you came in, but I really need you to come in Saturday."

Why?

"Rehearsal and then afterwards there's a meeting set up with a stylist. You need to be there."

The man was silent for a long moment. What time?

"Rehearsal starts at nine-thirty and goes until two, two-thirty. The meeting with the stylist will be right after that."

I'll be there, but I will be late. I have a meeting with my parole officer at nine. There was another moment of silence before he spoke up again. Did you tell them about me?

Chou smirked, even though he knew the other man couldn't see it. "No. I figured I'd let you surprise them. After all, you need some entertainment after being in prison seven years."

He could almost hear the smirk when the man spoke. I see. Saturday should be interesting, then.

He hung up before Chou could reply.

--------------------------------

Normally, Sanosuke hated mornings. He'd always been a night owl and he hated getting up before eleven am, whether it was the weekend or not. Even after years of dragging himself out of bed for school each morning at ten after seven (the tardy bell rang at seven-thirty five), he still hated it.

Which is why his younger sister was staring at him with such a shocked look on her face Saturday morning as he looked through the cupboard for some cereal, humming quietly to himself.

Uki looked at the clock on the oven once more to make sure that no, she was not hallucinating, before she looked back to the still singing Sanosuke.

"What are you doing?"

The brunette looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Hey, kiddo. I'm looking for some breakfast. Want some?" He asked, holding out a box of cereal.

"No thanks," replied his sister with a shake of her head. "That box is stale, I think. But, Sano, seriously, what are you doing?"

"I told you. I'm looking for some breakfast. Why?" He turned back to the cupboard, rooting around in the back for something edible.

"Because it's Saturday morning and you were up before me." It was a well known fact in the Higashidani household that Uki was the only one who knew what Saturday morning looked like.

"How do you know that?" He asked as he pulled a box of cereal out once more. Seeing that it too, was open, he shoved it back in the cupboard and continued searching.

"You're dressed and your hair is wet; I literally just got up."

Sanosuke shrugged and grabbed a pop tart from the cupboard, popping it into the microwave. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, but Sano you do realize that you just put a pop tart in the microwave without taking off the wrapper, right?"

The brunette's eyes widened and he quickly turned and grabbed the said pop tart, burning his fingers on the hot wrapper. "Damnit, I guess I must be still sleeping. Thanks, Uki."

She shrugged her shoulders and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "No biggie. But why are you up so early? Were you just hungry?"

The singer laughed and opened his breakfast. "Naw, I would still be sleeping if I was hungry. I've got a meeting with Chou at nine."

"You do realize that it's seven-thirty, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah. But I really don't want to be late, today."

Uki blinked and wondered where her brother had gone. "Huh? You don't want to be late? Why not?"

"After rehearsal today we have a meeting with a stylist."

Somehow Uki had the idea that Sanosuke was lying. He'd owned the same clothes for years; there was no reason for him to get all excited about a stylist.

"And?" She prodded.

He smiled again and shoved the rest of the Pop Tart in his mouth. "And we're finally meeting our guitarist." His smile grew wider. "Plus, we're getting our signing bonus."

Suddenly it all made sense to Uki.

------------------------------------

By eleven o'clock, they were all starting to get anxious. Yes, Chou had explained to the band that while their mysterious guitarist would be showing up, but he had an appointment he couldn't get out of at nine and so would be running a little late. But even Chou was starting to get antsy-if only because the rehearsal was turning out to be a waste without a guitarist. Since he'd figured the meeting with the probation officer wouldn't take more than forty-five minutes (if that) he hadn't bothered calling in the studio guitarist they'd been using all week. After over an hour of listening to the same song (minus the lead guitar, of course), Chou was beginning to think he'd made a mistake. Sure, he thought the guitarist he'd picked out was a perfect fit for Virgin Touch, but the more he thought about it, the more unsure he was of his choice. Not because of the man's ability, but because of his circumstances. He'd been behind bars for seven years and during that time he'd lost basically all contact with the world and his old life. There was next to nothing to stop him from leaving the country-there was really no reason at all for him to stay.

The blonde was in the middle of cursing his own stupidity when the door of the studio opened behind him. He turned, expecting the see the smiling Kamatari, only to find himself staring in the golden eyes of one of the most infamous guitarists in history.

The first time the world heard of Hajime Saitou, he was nothing more than the eighteen year old guitarist of Rideau du sang(1), yet another band with big hopes. He wasn't even the most popular band member (that honor went to Okita, the slightly psychotic lead singer), but he wasn't without his own fans. Much to the surprise of many people, Rideau quickly emerged as one of the best new bands, right up there with Faces of Evil. The two had a friendly rivalry that never quite got the meaning of the word friendly. And between the two guitarists it was nothing short of a war. Of course, that just made the bands more popular. For a long time no one could tell which band was better, but then, finally, Rideau du sang began to pull ahead.

Obviously, that's when it all began to fall apart. It was a well known fact that the members of the band didn't always get along, but one day something snapped and suddenly Hajime Saitou was no longer a welcome part of the group. He was still Rideau's guitarist (mainly because they knew any replacement would be less skilled than Saitou), but none of his band mates would even look at him, much less speak to him. The rumors flew as everyone tried to figure out exactly what had changed. But no one in the band spoke about it, and so no one learned a thing. People were just starting to get used to the band's new makeup when the news of the fire broke. Three of Rideau's four members were dead- they'd been having a brainstorming session at Okita's when the place caught fire, trapping them all inside.

It almost seemed natural when the suspicion fell on Saitou. After all, he hadn't exactly been getting along with the group and he was the only band member left alive, even though he was supposed to have been with the other's that night. But for reasons he couldn't, or wouldn't, explain, he wasn't there and he refused to give an alibi. And while the investigation was never able to pin anything on him, it did bring about two major changes for the musician. First of all, it gave birth to his new reputation, that of a dangerous, vindictive killer. And secondly, it dragged all his old skeletons out of the closet where they'd been quietly gathering dust. Suddenly, people who'd passed off his earlier misbehaviors as youthful indiscretions decided they wanted to prosecute him, one man in particular.

Apparently, one night when they'd had a little too much to drink, the members of Rideau du sang stumbled across a man trying to force himself onto his girlfriend. Saitou especially took offense and he pulled the man away, then proceeded to beat the crap out of him. Somehow during the scuffle Saitou's sunglasses managed to get broken and before he left he "exchanged" them with those of the other man. And four years after the fact, the man had brought the musician to court, hoping to get his revenge while the iron was still hot. And he did. On the charges of assault and theft, he was sentenced to ten years in prison. Everyone knew that it was unfair, but no one did anything about it. So Hajime Saitou, the famous guitarist, went to prison. The press had tried to keep in contact with him, but he'd wanted nothing to do with them and refused all interviews, effectively cutting off all contact to the outside world. He was now known to the world as hermit and the press had long ago stopped trying to keep in touch with him. That was the only reason they didn't know he'd been released from jail three years early for good behavior. One of the only people that knew this outside of the prison just happened to be Chou Sawagejou, who also happened to have been one of the band's roadies and the only person who had kept in contact with Saitou.

Which was the reason he was now standing in the studio, willing to become the new guitarist for Virgin Touch, whether the rest of the band wanted him to or not.

"Where the fuck were you?" Snapped Chou, any satisfaction he would have felt in seeing his old friend chased away by his annoyance. (2)

Saitou didn't seem to notice, or if he did he didn't seem to care. "The meeting ran late."

Chou raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "Two hours late?"

The only response from Saitou was a smirk. A smirk which Chou did not really find all that amusing and he said as much.

"I was in jail for seven years," responded the golden eyed man, smirk still in place. "Like you said, I need to have a little fun."

Chou glared but found himself almost unable to keep the smirk off his face. "Yeah, but not when I've been waiting two hours for you."

Saitou shrugged again and tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear. "I stopped by the storage unit to see about getting my vehicles back."

That, Chou understood. It was a well know fact that Saitou loved motorcycles and he was actually surprised the man had waited this long after his release before he saw about getting them back.

"I see. How'd the meetin' go?"

"Fine."

"And the special circumstances of your parole?"

"They don't see a problem with it as long as I check in with the local police when I get there." He was speaking of the deal Chou had worked out with his parole officer in order to allow him to leave the state with the band.

Chou nodded to himself, pleased to have it all straightened out. "Good. Now that yer here, have a listen to them and then we'll get you introduced."

-------------

Sanosuke was in the middle of laughing at something Glenn had said as the stepped out of the studio and into the conference room twenty minutes later. Of course, the laughter fell way from his lips when he saw who was already there with Chou. He knew that smirking face, he knew that high-ponytail and he knew those golden eyes. The only thing he didn't know is why he was sitting and the table and not in some jail cell.

The two men smirked when they saw the reactions of the band. For the most part, they looked shocked and a little frightened. And then there was Sanosuke, who looked a little puzzled but for the most part he just looked excited.

Still smiling, Chou stood from his chair. "I know this morning wasn't exactly like I said it would be, but now we can finally get down to business." His smile widened as he looked at the man still calmly sitting to his left. "So, here we go. Virgin Touch, I'd like you to meet your new guitarist, Hajime Saitou." He smirked a little. "Try to be nice to him; he's been in jail for the last seven years."

A huge grin spread across Sanosuke's face. "Are you serious? Are you fucking serious?"

Chou looked slightly offended. "Of course I'm serious. Do you really think I would joke about something like this?"

"Besides, he's blonde. He's not intelligent enough to think up something like that all by himself," spoke up Saitou for the first time. Chou quickly glared over at him, but the guitarist took no notice as he stood. "Like Chou said, I'm going to be your guitarist. I already listened to you a bit earlier so I'd prefer to not waste any more time and to get down to business."

With that he walked past the stunned group and into the studio.

The others shared a confused look before they looked to Chou for an explanation of exactly what was going on. The blonde smiled once again, enjoying the feeling of being the only one to know what was gong on.

"Since he was late this morning, you guys won't have time for a lunch break if you want to get any rehearsal time in. So you're going to rehearse until about three and immediately afterwards you're going to have the meeting with the stylist." Seeing the reactions of the musicians (especially Sanosuke), Chou held up a hand. "Calm the fuck down. You'll get some lunch while the stylist's dealing with you. Now go! We're not wasting the whole damn day."

--------------------

By the time three pm rolled around, Sanosuke was frustrated, pleased, and very, very hungry. He was pleased because he absolutely loved their new guitarist, frustrated because the guitarist also happened to be one of the biggest assholes he'd ever met, and hungry. . . Well, he was hungry because he hadn't had anything to eat since about eight am.

And so, since he was in a less than good mood, he was not really all that enthused about meeting with the stylist. He'd never been one for fashion and he really wasn't looking forward to having some gay man (or worse, some bubbly fashion model) tell him what clothes to wear and how to style his hair. All he really wanted, in fact, was a nice greasy pizza or maybe some real Mexican.

Next to him, Katsuhiro looked just as unhappy, except that Sanosuke had a feeling it had to do more with the guitarist walking ahead of them. He'd been in a sour mood since the moment Chou had introduced Saitou as their new guitarist and it had only gotten worse when it became obvious that they had. . . conflicting personalities..

"Katsu, stop glaring at the ground. It didn't do a damn thing to you."

His long-haired friend smiled a bit. "Not yet it hasn't, but it's just waiting to trip me. I just know it."

Sanosuke rolled his eyes at that. "Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Kats. I'd be more concerned about this fucking stylist if I were you. But I'm not, since God decided to take pity on me like that, so you go ahead and keep watching the carpet. OW!" He exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head. "What the fuck was that for?"

"Stop trying to be funny- you're not smart enough." Katsuhiro smirked and looked over at the drummer who was walking on Sanosuke's other side. "It's almost as bad was when Glenn tries to sing."

"Hey! Why are you bringing me into this? I wasn't even doing anything!" Glenn protested.

"C'mon, you know it's just cause we love you," said Sanosuke, once again smiling, wrapping an arm around the blonde's shoulders.

Glenn rolled his eyes and pushed Sanosuke's arm away. "Thanks, mate, but I feel loved enough. Now go get yourself some food before your stomach decides to eat you." With that he pushed Sanosuke towards the open door of the conference room.

Sanosuke didn't need to be told twice. He smiled back at his friends, then sprinted into the conference room, eyes falling on the large sandwich that sat on the table. He grabbed a section before falling into a nearby chair. He was happily munching away before he looked around the room for the stylist.

He didn't see him right away. His eyes were drawn instead to the racks of clothing that had been brought into the room and he swallowed nervously as he noticed all the leather that was there. Then his eyes fell across the man who was browsing through the racks, looking over at one of the musicians every now and then before going back to his clothing. Sanosuke assumed he was the stylist, but he couldn't be sure.

Once everyone was in the room and had enough food to last them for at least a little bit, Chou shut the door and sat down himself near the head of the table. "Saitou, you already know all this but these others guys are newbies so I'm gonna have to explain the whole deal. So just bear with me and try not to be too sarcastic, okay?" He seemed to take the lack of a response as a yes and continued right on talking while Sanosuke wondered if the only time Saitou spoke was to insult someone.

"Since you guys are a band and not just a duo or something like that, we're going to set up each one of you with a persona and a style. Each of you will become something different and you will follow this persona at _all times_."

Seeing Nick's (4) raised hand, Chou paused for a moment to let him speak.

"What happens if we aren't anything like our persona?"

This time it was the stylist who spoke. "It doesn't matter. You stay in character and pretend to be who you say you are." He smiled, white teeth flashing in his deeply tanned face. "I take it you boys didn't know you'd have to act, did you?" He shrugged, still smiling. "Don't worry about, you'll learn. My name is Tae Espinoza and I am Virgin Touch's stylist. That means it will be me giving you guys the once over before press conferences. I'll also be the one that decides what you wear on stage and for any album shoots which may come up."

He moved to stand near the clothing racks and the eyes of everyone in the room followed him, taking in his highlighted brown hair and impeccable dress. "Now, the basics first. Today I am going to give you each a persona and some clothing that goes with it. Since you'll be expected to assume these personas permanently, like Chou over there already mentioned, you'll be getting two distinctly different types of clothing. The first will be for everyday where, when you're just out and about doing your things. For most of you, you'll be wearing jeans a lot of the time. Of course, they won't be the same type of jeans, but we'll get to that later." He smiled again, obviously excited about what he was talking about. "The other type of clothing you'll be getting is more. . . Formal, if you will. This clothing will be mainly for concerts, photo shoots and press conferences. Don't worry if at first you don't feel completely comfortable in the clothes, it's only natural. But eventually, you'll grow into the style and you'll eventually start modifying it and making it your own." Tae laughed then and moved away from the clothes he had been fingering. "Now, I need you all to do me a big favor. I need you take your shirts off."

Sanosuke blinked, not sure he had heard that right. "Huh?" He managed to get out between his bites of sandwich. "You want us to do what?"

The stylist rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips. "I need you to take your shirts off," he said as if it were as clear as day.

Four of the five band members still didn't understand.

"Uhh... Why, exactly?" asked Glenn, not really wanting to take his shirt off in front of a man he was pretty sure played for the other team. "I think we're all pretty comfortable as is, thanks."

Now Tae was beginning to look annoyed. "Don't worry, I don't really like blondes. I need you to take your shirts off so I can see how good of shape you're in. Because if you're out of shape, there are certain shirts here that would definitely not look good." He rolled his eyes once more and folded his arms across his chest. "Now will you follow Saitou's example and take your shirts off?"

Sanosuke looked to the side and saw that yes, in fact; Saitou had already taken his shirt off and was being examined by Tae. Not wanting to seem immature or childish, Sanosuke quickly did the same, shivering a little as the air conditioning hit his bare skin. Around him, the others did the same.

Tae obviously liked what he saw because he didn't stop smiling. "Perfect. You guys are all in really good shape, so I don't have to worry about giving you some of the more. . .immodest stuff. You guys can put your shirts back on if you want." They all took him up on his suggestion, Glenn a little more quickly than the others.

"Now that we're done with all the boring stuff, we can get started on the fun stuff," explained Tae as he headed back to the racks. "For Virgin Touch, we decided to go with a more of a visual rock style." He laughed at the alarmed looks on Sanosuke and Katsuhiro's faces. "Don't worry, it isn't anything near as drastic as the bands in Japan. But it is something new over here and since three of you are of Asian descent, we decided to go with it. So all of your styles will have a touch of the visual style behind them. Take Katsuhiro for an example. We decided to cast you as the smart, calm one of the band. So, you're going to be wearing dress pants most of the time with nicer shirts. However, the shirts are a little old-fashioned, think the seventeen hundreds if you will. And for on stage, you'll have a lot of flowing shirts and leather pants, mixed in with some vests. Most of your clothes will be in the classic black and white with some other dark, jeweled colors thrown in as well." He turned to the racks and grabbed a couple of hangers before handing them to Katsuhiro. "I want you to try this on before you leave so I can see what size to get you and how it looks on you, kay?"

"Yeah, sure," mumbled the bassist, looking down at the clothes in his arms with something akin to fear on his face.

Apparently Tae didn't see it because he passed right away onto Saitou. "We thought about maybe trying to change your image, Saitou, but we decided it would be an uphill battle since people already definitely have an idea about you. So we're going to make you the 'dangerous' one of the bunch. You'll be dressed in a lot of tight jeans with vests and shirts that show off your tattoo." Sanosuke blinked at the last comment. He hadn't noticed a tattoo when Saitou had been shirtless earlier, but then again, he hadn't really been looking for one either. "For the concerts we'll be going with the jeans and some leather from time to time, along with some more vests. Of course, if you don't feel like wearing a shirt, you can always go without." Tae winked at Saitou, but didn't hand him any clothes as he had done with Katsuhiro.

Sanosuke smiled as he watched Glenn fidget in his seat before sighing in relief as he was told he was to be the band's 'sweetheart.' But as Sanosuke watched Tae tell Nick about what his wardrobe would consist of as the 'playboy,' he felt himself beginning to get nervous. He had a bad feeling about what clothes he was going to get stuck with, he could just imagine something horrible and pink.

But when Tae lifted a shirt off the rack that Sanosuke could see through, he knew he was in trouble.

"That's for me?" Sanosuke asked, knowing he probably sounded a little nervous, but not really caring.

From where he sat just across the table, Katsuhiro smirked. "Aww, the poor little baby sounds scared. Does he need his big drunken step-dad to protect him?"

Sanosuke threw a tomato from his plate at the bassist. "Ha ha ha. Laugh all you want, Katsu. But at least you got a persona you can actually pull off. It looks like I'm supposed to be some sort of slut!"

Tae cleared his throat, drawing the singer's attention to him. "Actually, that's not it. As the singer, we need you to really stand out and to really grab everyone's attention. So you get to become the 'wild one'."

"Sorry, but I don't exactly see how wearing a see-through shirt is going to make people think I'm wild."

"I was getting to that, thank you very much. Like I said, you're the wild child. The one people expect to get arrested for drunk driving or be caught having sex with a prostitute in his car. You're the one that does things in excess, and that includes showing off your sex appeal. So that's why you're going to be wearing a lot of mesh, a lot of leather and a lot of tight jeans with holes in all the right places." Tae must have noticed the nervous look on Sanosuke's face, because he sighed and put the mesh shirt back on the rack. "Look, Sanosuke, I understand that you're probably a little bit nervous. But you have the body to pull it off and if you want this band to work, you need to do this. Besides, it's not like I'll put you in something you don't look good in. Now, will you wear the damn clothing or not?"

Sanosuke nodded and the man's smile came back full force. "Wonderful! Now that we've gotten the clothes out of the way we can start on your hair. . ."

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Fin du chaiptre

(1) Yes, the s is not capitalized for a reason. The band's name is French, so we're going by the French way of capitalizing letters.

(2) Don't forget, Chou hates people who are late

(3) I'm making myself drool here.

(4) Since Nick is his nickname, this is how I'm going to be referring to Leland from now on.


End file.
